Seth Godin’s recent blog, “The Perfect Crime”, posted on June 24, 2013, challenges us to consider the impact of marketing in a way that changes the culture to benefit you and your shareholders at the expense of people, health, and culture.
We traveled recently to Washington DC. Beautiful old mansions and gorgeous high rises devoted to lobbyists trying to change our culture and society, attempting to bend the rules to benefit the shareholders at the expense of society. It is an awesome sight. You can define “awesome” any way you choose. I might also describe it as overwhelming. Every tiny organization has a lobbyist group.
What if you don’t? Our little entrepreneurial business does not have a lobbyist. I do not have a personal lobbyist representing my personal interests either. So how do I get power or influence my world?
Seth raises an interesting question about how we spend our money and how we allow ourselves to be manipulated as consumers. The more important question for us is what is our responsibility to ourselves, our shareholders, and our communities for our behavior?
As Seth says, if you are “responsible for the power in your hands… then we need to own the results of our work… No sustainable system can grant power without responsibility.”
As a business leader and entrepreneur, I choose to function in a manner that makes my community stronger. I am stronger when my colleagues and community is stronger. So I make business decisions and personal decisions for the greater good. Sometimes I come up a little short personally but I am comfortable that in the long run I will win when my clients and the community wins, especially if I play a role in making my little world better for those around me.
As a job seeker, you are responsible for the decisions you make. You can be as active or inactive as you wish. You can choose to work for companies that harm or help the greater community in which you live. The goal is not just a job offer. Your goal should be a business role that balances personal fulfillment with the impact you have on society. Anything less changes the culture at the expense of people, health, and culture, not necessarily for the better.